San Diego Campground

[caseyhoward]

We are embarking on a trip to San Diego with our travel trailer. We would appreciate suggestions about campgrounds in the San Diego area. We especially enjoy state parks. some of the ones we have looked at on rv America looked booked. if you know of any great spots, please let us know.

[caver]

I was there mid April visiting an old Navy buddy. My friends live right by Santee Lakes and it was full and pricey. An internet buddy suggested Dos Picos in Ramona. That was a nice park and probably $10 cheaper than Santee Lakes. It was also full on a weekend so I arrived Sunday afternoon. The place was empty for the next two days.

[bikendan]

you're way too late for anything near or on the coast. they were gone 6 months ago.
you'll have to go inland.

[Tiger4x4RV]

A few other possibilities, most reservable and some having partial or full hookups.

San Diego County parks with camping.

Lake Jennings campground (Helix Water District)

Santee Lakes campground (Padre Dam water district)

[aerbus32]

Go to the 'plan a trip' then the 'find a campground' portion of this website to see the parks available. Then go to rvparkreviews.com and compare them. State parks that offer reservations fill up almost as soon as the sites can be reserved. Call and book private sites as soon as you can. Campland on the Bay is a favorite of my grandkids. Mission Bay RV Resort, less kid oriented, basically an asphalt parking lot with hook-ups, was already booked for one of the weeks in early July we wanted when we contacted them almost 2 months ago. Bernardo Shores in Imperial Beach still had space so we reserved it. Never been there, but the website and reviews look good. We stayed at Chula Vista RV Resort in December in a premium site. We liked it. Little further north, Oceanside has 2 nice private parks. Used to be able to camp near the launch ramp at Oceanside harbor first come first serve. Parks in both Escondido and Temecula (Pechanga is first rate) will require your fighting commuter traffic to get in & out of S.D. Having retired from Temecula, I can tell you that we did most of our local boating out of San Diego. Not much more than an hours drive if you wait to travel after the commuters are done.

[DesertHawk]

Here's What I found in 2009: :C Clicky.

:S Reservations are Made and Reservations are Canceled, Hard to predict when one can & can not find a site. Even in SoCal. Or Keep Trying like the "parable" of the Spider.

If you use I-10 getting over, this older post has some information, even some on our hometown: 🙂 Clicky.

Near Benson which is South of Tucson (or *East of Tucson) on I-10: Never gotten there yet, Kartchner Caverns State Park would be neat if wanting to see things besides overnighting.

Picacho Peak State Park 30 miles or so north of Tucson (or *West) on I-10. Seems it's open again. Very scenic area, we did an overnight there years ago & stopped to see the saguaros one other time. The Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch, an old style Roadside Attraction where one may feed the ostriches, is just south of the park. Never have stopped, but have read a nice review of it recently. Plan on taking our grandson there one of these days, he lives in Tucson, soon to be 4 yrs. old.

* IMHO I-10, which runs eastbound & westbound, is in reality going more north & south in the Tucson Area. Heading North there you are westbound, heading South, eastbound. :? I-10 turns north at Benson, then at the town of Picacho, it turns west, but at the I-8 junction, I-10 turns north to Phoenix, where it turns west again....when westbound on it. I-10 also turns north at El Paso, then after Las Cruces it turns west again. All the time being westbound.

Info for Tucson, a really neat town & area: 🙂 Clicky.
There are two units to see at Saguaro NP, one on each side of Tucson. East unit has a paved road which loop around part of the park. Small visitor center. West unit is a dirt road, seems longer maybe ? & has a larger visitor center. Near it is also the AZ Sonora Desert Museum (very good one, more zoo than museum), a must see IMHO. Also campground near by Gilbert Ray CG. Info in the above Clicky.

I've Never have done any camping along I-8 in AZ, but:
Many people winter in or around Ajo. Warm I'm sure in the summer: Organ Pipe Cactus Nat'l Mon't ---- Darby Wells Road BLM Camping ---- Ditto ---- Ajo Boondocking

Ajo Park Reviews ---- RV Sue Blog at Ajo = PS: use the arrows to go backwards or forward to see more.
A goodbye slideshow to Ajo _____ Good morning, good night, Saddle Mountain

Free Camping at Ajo Golf Course (Three days free RV dry camping with use of facilities.) Eating there would work, I believe. http://earthonly.com/ajo/golf.php

We did stop at the Yuma Prison one time, kind of neat. Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park

[More_To_See]

It's difficult to recommend camping for those coming to this area. Anybody coming half way cross the country almost surely wants to be right in San Diego and most likely on the water. Study a map of the city closely and you will see that we have some wonderful bays just inland off the ocean. They provide the best campgrounds. So some really nice expensive campgrounds typically end up as the default recommendations.

Directly on the ocean - if that appeals to you - there is also some camping but more difficult to get into. Out in the mountains east of the city about 50 miles are a couple of national forest campgrounds ($20/night). But you'd be driving maybe a hundred miles a day "commuting" into the city sites. That would pay for an expensive campground right on the water.

Off the top of my head, check out Santee Lakes. A park like setting that will not disappoint. Base yourself there for a couple days and check out some of the places on the Bays.

As an aside. Coming across Arizona and California this time of year will be hot. We have often seen over 110 coming and going. You will climb up into mountains starting about 80 miles east of the city and then drop down out of them as you near the city.

Also. That famous San Diego weather only exists right near the ocean. Go inland across a low range of hills 10 miles to the east and you may experience much warmer temperatures. Not desert temps, though, by any means.

And one last thing to note. We are famous for June Gloom during which time the beach area will be covered with a marine layer of low clouds. Combined with a steady onshore breeze off a cold ocean current it can be somewhat cold in the mornings or until that layer burns off. It can last into July.

If you see a Winny Vectra heading your way across the freeway give a wave. It just might be us doing our yearly run over to the Lake Conroe area.

[Lucyc858]

We live in San Diego, but seldom go to RV Parks in the area. The state beaches need advance reservations, way in advance. There are rv parks in El Cajon that are Passport America you can get some half price days. You can check to see if you can get into Santee Lakes. it is more like a state park. Chula Vista, Escondido, and Temecula have RV parks, but are further out. PM me if you have specific questions about the area.